The Rockies' Nolan Arenado tracks the flight of his RBI single in the second inning Friday against the San Diego Padres.<!--#28 of the Colorado Rockies hits an RBI single in the second inning of a game against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field on June 7, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies led the Padres 8-2 after two innings. -->

Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa throws in the first inning of a baseball game against the San Diego Padres, Friday, June 7, 2013, in Denver.

Before Friday night’s game, rookie third baseman Nolan Arenado was getting the business, and how, from irascible veteran Todd Helton in the Rockies’ clubhouse.

Arenado took it in stride, laughing and doing his best to dish it back.

Then he went out and beat the San Diego Padres with a solo home run in the ninth inning off reliever Joe Thatcher, lifting the Rockies to a wild 10-9 victory.

“Right when I hit it, I knew it was out,” Arenado said. “That was a big moment for me, to be able to help the team win.”

The first walk-off homer of Arenado’s career and the first walk-off homer of the season for Colorado sent a Coors Field crowd of 30,477 home happy and feeling wiped out.

“It was a big relief,” said Rockies manager Walt Weiss. “It was a crazy game and Nolan had to come up with a huge hit.”

The victory came close to becoming an infamous defeat for the Rockies.

The seventh inning was spectacularly bad for Rockies reliever Rob Scahill. Handed a 9-4 lead, Scahill gave up five runs and four hits, including back-to-back home runs by Carlos Quentin and Jedd Gyorko. He failed to get an out before leaving to a cascade of boos.

The Rockies got a scare in the sixth when Carlos Gonzalez appeared to injure his knee in the batter’s box on a groundout to short. He hobbled up the first-base line and into the dugout, but went back out to play left field in the seventh. Later in the inning he was removed from the game, replaced by Jonathan Herrera. Before he departed, CarGo had two triples and three RBIs.

With their offense cranking from the outset, the Rockies had leads of 3-0 after one inning, 8-2 after two and 9-3 after three. A two-run double by Helton and a two-run triple by Gonzalez were the biggest blows against San Diego starter Edinson Volquez.

Troy Tulowitzki, who had an RBI single in the first inning, finished 3-for-4, raising his average to .348. Dexter Fowler, a day after he was benched because of a migraine, led off the first with a triple and finished the game hitting .292.

Rockies starter Jorge De La Rosa entered the game 5-0 with a 2.45 ERA at Coors Field, but he was missing his LoDo mojo Friday. He was clearly out of sync early, beginning in the second inning when Kyle Blanks clobbered a two-run homer to left.

De La Rosa left too many pitches hovering in the strike zone and the Padres took advantage, scoring four runs on 11 hits in five innings.

It could have been worse, and the Padres may have crept back into the game had it not been for two defensive gems in the fifth. Tulowitzki ate some dirt diving to snare a hot grounder by Chase Headley, then threw him out by half a step. With two Padres on base, Arenado ended the inning with a diving stop on Cameron Maybin’s hot shot. The gem earned a fist bump from Tulo.

“(Arenado) made several outstanding plays,” Weiss said. “There are only so many superlatives you can use for his defense, but we have seen it since he’s been up here (in the big leagues).”

Arenado turned in another highlight-reel play in the eighth inning, snaring a hot shot from Quentin, turning 360 degrees and firing a strike to Helton at first base.

LOOKING AHEAD: SAN DIEGO AT COLORADO

Wilin Rosario appears to have hit his way out of a slump. The catcher had a two-run homer, a double and three RBIs in Thursday’s game. Of course, it figured Rosario would bust out against the Padres. Entering Friday’s game, he was batting .329 (23-for-70) and had five doubles, seven homers and 22 RBIs in 20 games against San Diego. Of his 10 home runs this season, four have come off San Diego pitchers. That said, Rosario and his teammates face a real test Saturday against 33-year-old lefty Eric Stults. He has pitched very well lately, going 2-3 with a 2.64 ERA over his last seven starts. Stults has limited history against the current crop of Rockies, though. He has pitched in nine games (three starts) at Coors Field, posting a 5.75 ERA. Patrick Saunders, The Denver Post

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